User:Clipka/Syntax

Random ideas for an overhauled way of representing syntax

This is what we currently have:

ARRAY_DECLARATION:
  #declare IDENTIFIER = array[ mixed ][ INT ][[ INT ]]..[ARRAY_INITIALIZER] |
  #local IDENTIFIER = array[ mixed ][ INT ][[ INT ]]..[ARRAY_INITIALIZER]
...

If we abandong pre-formatted text, we can use formatting to our advantage. For example, the following uses a definition list in a <div> tag (using "Note" here but we should of course use a dedicated style class, so that we can fine-tune the style), and %&t;code> to mark literal text:

ARRAY_DECLARATION

#declare IDENTIFIER = array [ mixed ] [ INT ] [ [ INT ] ].. [ ARRAY_INITIALIZER ] |

#local IDENTIFIER = array [ mixed ] [ INT ] [ [ INT ] ].. [ ARRAY_INITIALIZER ]

...

Or, to make it easier to write, we could simply use bold to indicate literal text:

ARRAY_DECLARATION

#declare IDENTIFIER = array [ mixed ] [ INT ] [ [ INT ] ]... [ ARRAY_INITIALIZER ] |

#local IDENTIFIER = array [ mixed ] [ INT ] [ [ INT ] ]... [ ARRAY_INITIALIZER ]

...

As a final example, here's using bold for literal text, italics for syntax non-terminals, and normal for everything else, while also using subscript "opt" instead of square brackets to indicate optional stuff, and subscript "opt..." to indicate optional stuff that can appear multiple times:

ARRAY_DECLARATION

#declare IDENTIFIER = array mixed_opt [ INT ] [ INT ]_opt... ARRAY_INITIALIZER_opt |

#local IDENTIFIER = array mixed_opt [ INT ] [ INT ]_opt... ARRAY_INITIALIZER_opt

...

For simplicity of writing, we might use style sheets to "italicize" everything but the non-terminals, rather than use markup to explicitly italicize pretty much everything individually.